FIN-610 / 3 credits

Teacher: Hau Harald

Language: English

Remark: This course takes place at UNIGE - see schedule. If you would like to attend this course, please send an email to: edfi@epfl.ch to register


Frequency

Every year

Summary

This is a doctoral level course introducing students to important topics in international finance. It also covers aspects of the recent financial crisis, such as market contagions, regulatory arbitrage and failure, stability issues of a currency union and of the banking system.

Content

First, it familiarizes students with important issues in international finance. It covers a wide range of very different topics with "research potential", for example the stability of a currency union; speculative attacks and arbitrage; exogenous shocks and their real effects; issues related to finance, politics, and development; financial crisis and contagion; financial stability and regulation; exchange rate dynamics and international asset holdings.

 

A second important course objective is to educate doctoral students on what characterizes successful research in terms of the question asked, the available data structure, the execution strategy, and overall relevance of the findings. Each student is expected to give multiple presentation from a list of recent research paper and evaluate why a particular paper deserved publication and was impactful.

 

There is no text book for this course. The course material draws on a number of academic papers. The papers are available on the web.

 

I. Course Introduction

II. The Euro Crisis

III. Exchange Rate Dynamics and International Asset Holdings:

IV. Speculative Attacks and Arbitrage

V. Exogenous Shocks and their Real Effects

VI. Finance, Politics and Development

VII. Financial Crisis and Contagion

VIII. Economic Preferences, Genetics, and Psychology

IX. Financial Stability and Regulation

 

Alternative Topics:

X. Finance Research on Behaviors Finance and FinTech

XI. International Asset Pricing: Theory and Tests

XII. Research on China

 

Teaching methods

In each class, students will present their set of papers together with a summary, critique and potential research ideas for further work on the topic of the papers. The presentation is 30 minutes. Each student will be responsible for two or three papers. The instructors will assign the papers.
This course takes place at UNIGE see schedule

Assessment methods

Class participation (50%)
Student presentation (50%)

In the programs

  • Exam form: Multiple (session free)
  • Subject examined: International Finance
  • Lecture: 28 Hour(s)
  • Type: optional

Reference week

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